It is definitely a subjective statement.

Without suffering we would have no inclination to improve, seek wisdom of life's systemic cruelty, and suffering is largely (if not wholly) a symptom of ego/expectations. So I would say that it has a very necessary purpose if we are to be more than a machine.

@powder If the pandemic had been allowed to run its course unchecked it would inevitably have that effect of decreasing the worlds population. The world is overpopulated, causing us to use up resources at an alarming rate to merely feed, clothe and shelter all of us. Already many countries are unable to feed their populations, therefore the remark “culling the herd “ is quite a natural mindset to have.

@powder
The world population is currently 4.32 million less than it would have been without covid. A tiny percentage, but yes, it has been culled to that degree.

@powder
4.32 million deaths spread over all of 2020 and this much of 2021 is something in the neighborhood of 0.054% of current population... well within the margin of error of any population estimate I would think. And apparently within the fluctuations you quoted. All we have is the numbers from sources we find credible.

@powder
Cull does not mean reduce absolute numbers. Culling can result in slowed growth rate. Every dead person is a person who will not reproduce. That is a culling of sorts - in this case, perhaps, to a small degree, a culling of those untrusting of the medical consensus, be that for better or worse.

@powder
Obviously not for those above the age of fertility, but clearly some people who died were, and will be, people of child-bearing age. I acknowledged from the start that the culling effect will (unless variants become much more aggressive) be minimal, but it is there.

@powder
[ahdictionary.com]

Is that remark based on a thorough knowledge of today’s editorial direction of the Irish Times or merely an assumption based only on what you yourself think it must be …because it’s Irish and therefore that equates with Catholicism, and that therefore must mean anti- atheist too. That is an outdated and incorrect assumption on your part, the Irish Times reflects the thinking and mindset of the Ireland of the 21st century. It is a modern, progressive country, populated by a highly educated, articulate, young, and increasingly secular and diverse people. The Catholic Church no longer holds much sway in today’s Ireland, having lost its moral authority after the horrendous shaming of the church over serial sexual child abuse cases by the clergy and the cruelty of the nuns towards young mothers and their babies in the Convent run Magdalene Laundries.

I read the Irish Times regularly and find it to be a quality newspaper which shows balance in both its editorials and journalistic pieces, giving space to argument and counter argument as any good publication will.

@Marionville My position is based on having lived on the side of the Irish Sea for decades, and while I am aware that the influence of Catholic Church from before the turn of the century, I can still see that influence today from other hemisphere.

My knowledge of the current editorial thrust of the Irish Times is nil, and I thank you for educating me.

@anglophone Just one more important point…The Irish Times, from the time of its inception in 1859 was never a Catholic newspaper, being founded to be a Protestant Nationalist newspaper, in fact it was known as “the voice of British Unionism in Ireland”, and only installing its first Catholic editor some 127 years into its existence in 1986! This is something it has now thrown off and is at pains to say that it is no longer a pro Unionist newspaper, but that it wishes to present itself politically as “liberal and progressive”.

This is exactly what I believe is going on (and is, therefore, unstoppable). The eliminations are natural so the Eastern concepts of letting go, detachment, and minimalism are coming into greater play. This could be a big moment for changing the future's existential beliefs. Namaste.